Foldable seating device for children



May 16, 1944, N. HAMMER FOLDABLE SEATING DEVICES FOR CHILDREN Filed Aug. 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVgNToR. f/ wzmzmmer nm VII/IIIA ATTE R N EYS May 16, 1944. N. HAMMR 2,349,092

FOLDABLE SEATING DEVICES FOR CHILDREN Filed Aug. 25, 1942 v2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

/afmffam/mer BY n Y ATTCIRNEYS Patented May 16, 1944 burrito STATESIPATNT oil-Fica Nathan Hammer, New York, Ni Y. apnlieauonnugustzs, 1942, serial No. '456,051

` 4 owns. w1. 15s-vs) This invention relates to foldable seatingvdevices for children, and its general object is to provide a seating device that is designed for attachment to any suitable supporting means, for example the back of a chair in the home or the back of a vehicle seat while travelling, to be suspended therefrom, and the device can be folded in compact form to take up minimum space when not in use. y

A further object isto provide a foldable seating device of the character set forth, that is in the form of a nursery chair, in that it includes pivoted guard and tray means, and means for detachably securing a commode to the underside of the seat member of the device, the seat member having a hole therein, normally closed by a cushion.

Another object is to provide a foldable seating device that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and extremely eicient in use and service.

This invention also consistsin certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specically pointed out in the suspended claims.

In describing'the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings where in like characters 'denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the device in position for use.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken approxi mately on line 2 2 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the device in position for use. p

Figure d is a perspective view of the device in folded position.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 5 5 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a detail view illustrating certain parts of the supporting bracket structure.

Referring to the drawings in detail,.the reference numeral i indicates a seat member thathas a centrally disposed hole 2 therein, provided with a Wall that is beveled in rounded formation outwardly from its upper to its lower edge, as best face of the seat member for disposal in bridging relation with respect to the hole 2, adjacent the front and rear thereof respectively, is a pair of parallel spiral springs ,6 for engagement with the anged upper end of a commode, not shown, for detachably securing thev sainev against the under face, as will be apparent from Figure 4.

The'seat member i is foldably associated with a back rest 'Land when in folded position, as shown in Figure 4, it is disposed parallel'with the back rest and confined between side members 8 that are fixed to the back rest along the side edges of the front face thereof, by eyebolts 9, there being a pair of upper and lower eyebolts for each side member, and the eyes thereof bear against the rear face of thev back rest, as well as aredisposed in vertical alignment for a purpose which will be later described. The shanks of the eyebolts terminate within the side members 8 and the nutsthereof are mounted in slots extending transversely of the side members, as best shown in Figure 5. g

'I'he upper ends of the side members terminate iiush with the top of the back rest, but the lower ends extend below thel back rest and mounted in and bridging the lower portions of the side members is a supporting rod l0 for the seat member, the latter having strap bearings ii secured to the under face thereof and mounted on the rod, for swinging movement of the seat member to .folded position, or to a position for use, at right angles to the back rest, and when in the latter position, the rear end of the upper face of the seat member bears against the bottom of the backrest to hold the seat member accordingly, as bestshown inFigure 2. A cushion i2 is provided for the back rest and is held against the front -face thereof by iiexible tabs i3 that are fastened to the top of the back rest by vsnap fasteners Mi.

A guard member and tray support is provided for the device, and iii the form shown it is made from tubular materialin substantially U-form to provide a pair of paralel arms lhaving their front ends merging in rounded formation into the bight portion i6. 'I'he arms l5 are bent adjacet their rear ends to provide odset portions Il that are pivotally secured to bolts I8 extending laterally from the outer faces of the side members 8 adjacent the upper ends thereof. The guard r and tray support is held in a horizontal posi ion when the device is' set up for use, by studs I9 which extend laterally from the outer faces of the side members adjacent to the front edges thereof for disposal in the path of the lspection of Figure 2.

arms i5 andfor the latter to rest thereon, as clearly shown in Figure l.

Bridging the arms i5 and resting thereon, as well as on the bight portion iti is' a tray 20 that is slidably connected to the arms for movement thereon, by looped members, there being a pair of looped members 2i and 22- respectively, se" cured to each end of the under face of the tray, adjacent to its rear edge, the looped members being disposed about the arms I5 and the arcuate portions of the rearwardly arranged looped members 2i are inclined upwardly and rearwardly so that the rear edges thereof bear against the under side of the arms l5 to hold the trayagainst casual sliding movement, as will be apparent upon in- The tray is shown as being of elongated rectangular formation and the rear edge thereof is recessed along its length to snugly fit the waist of a child seated in the device, when the tray is adjusted accordingly, and the tray is provided with the usual marginal retaining flange 23.

- Metallic buttons 24 may be secured to the under face of the tray, for engagement with the arms' l5, ybut in any event, a safety strap 25 has one end fixed to the under face of the tray at the rear edge thereof, and the opposite end of the strap is detachably connected toV the front side of the seat member, by a snap fastener 26, it being obvious that when the child is seated in the device, its legs will straddle the strap.

In order to attach the device to any suitable supporting means, such as a chair back in the home or the back of a seat of a vehicle when travelling, to be suspended therefrom, I provide a pair of brackets of inverted substantially U-form, as best shown in Figure 2, to straddle the top of the supporting means. Each bracket includes parallel limb's 2l and 28 respectively, which are connected together by a bight or bridging portion 29. The inner limbs 28 are longer than the outer limbs 21 and are mounted in the vertically 'aligned eyes of the bolts 9 for swinging movement of the short limbs in a horizontal plane, toward and away from the back rest, so that the brackets can be adjusted to fit supporting means of various thicknesses, that is the short limbs can be moved to bear against the rear face of the supporting means to hold the seat member in a horizontal plane, when the device is in set up position, regardless of the thickness of the supporting means, and the limbs 28 are held in the eyes of the bolts 9 by cap nuts 30 threaded on the lower ends thereof.

The brackets are held in adjusted position by a flexible element in the form of a ha link seat member, a back rest for the seat member,

chain 3l and the lower ends of the limbs 2T have rotatably mounted thereon cap sleeves 32 that are secured thereto by set screws 33 extending into annular grooves 34 in the limbs, as shown in removed with respect to a support, and when removed therefrom, the device can be folded in compact form, as shown in Figure 4. The manner of folding the device will be obvious from that figure, which illustrates that the seat member is confined between the side members 8, with the cushions in face to face contact and the limbs 21 and bight portions 29 of the attaching brackets are disposed against the back rest, with the tray .bearing against the limbs.

In order to hold the device in folded position, I provide a keeper 38 in the form of a plate that is fixed to the under face of the eat member, and extends laterally from one side thereof to bear against the front edge of the adjacent side member 8, and the outer end of the plate is notched for receiving an end portion of the chain 3l, the notch being outwardly flared toward its inner end, to facilitate inserting the chain therein, and it will be obvious' from Figure 4 that a ball link of the chain bears against the plate to retain the chain within the notch and the device in folded position.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the l invention will be readily apparent.

Figure 6. Each sleeve is provided with a trans- 1 verse bore 35 and the chain is slidably mounted through the bores. Thumb screws 36 are threaded through the lower end portions of the sleeves to bear against the chain, so as to hold the saine taut and consequently the brackets in adjusted positions. Rubber tubing 3l is sleeved on'the limbs and bridging portion 29, to prevent the same from marring or otherwise damaging the supporting means when the device is applied thereto.

From the above description and disclosure in the drawings, it will be obvious that when the device is in set up position, as shown in Figure 1, it can be easily and expeditiously attached and It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:

l; A seating device'for a child, comprising a ssat member, a back rest for the seat member, side members extending forwardly from the back rest, eycbolts securing the 'side members to the back rest and having the eyes thereof bearing against the rear face of the back rest, inverted substantially U-shaped brackets for attaching the device to supporting means, each bracket including a long limb and a short limb, the long limbs being rotatably mounted in the eye; for

swinging movement of the short limbs in a hori-/' zontal plane toward and away from the rear face of the back rest to adjust the 'brackets to t supporting means of various thickness, a cap sleeve having a transverse bore through its lower end portion rotatably and detachably connected to the lower end of the short limb of each U shaped bracket, a vchain adapted to be extended between the cap sleeves of the bracket and through the bores thereof, and means for releasably fastening the chain in the boresof the cap sleeves.

2. A seating device for a child, comprising a a pair of inverted substantially U-shaped brackets lor attaching the device to supporting means, each bracket including 'a long limb and a short limb, the long limbs being vertically and rotatably secured to the back rest for movement of the snort limbs in a horizontal plane toward and away from the rear face of the back rest to adjust the brackets to fit supporting means of variou; thicknesses, cap sleeves rotatably secured to the lower ends of the short limbs and being bored transversely, a. chain slidably mounted through the bores of the sleeves, and thumb screws threaded in the sleeves to bear against the chain for securing the brackets in adjusted positions.

3. A foldable seating device for a child, comprising a seat member, a back rest for the Vseat member, side members secured to and extending forwardly from the back rest, -a support for the seat member and secured to and bridging the side members, said seat member being swingably mounted on said support for movement to a folded position parallel to the back rest or to` an open position at right angles to the back rest, a pair of inverted substantially U-shaped brackets for attaching the device to supporting means, said brackets having certain of their limbs rotatably mounted on the back rest for movement of either limb thereof in a horizontal plane toward and away from the back rest to bring about adjustment of the brackets to t supporting means of various thicknesses, means for securing the brackets in adjusted positions including a sleeve having a bore transversely therethrough removably connected with thelower end of one limb of each bracket, a chain adapted to be extended between the sleeves of the respective brackets and through the bores therein, threaded elements carried by the respective sleeves for engaging the chain in the bores thereof to securely fasten the chain therein, and a keeper secured to the seat member for receiving the chain to hold the seat member in folded position.

4. In a seat of the character described havingl a back member, a pair of inverted substantially U-shaped brackets mounted on the rear face of the back member, each of said brackets having one of its parallel limbs pivotally connected with said back member, the lower end of the opposite parallel limb of each bracket having an annular groove, a cap sleeve slidably fitted on the lower grooved portion of each bracket limb and having a transverse bore in its lower portion, 4a screw mounted transversely through each cap sleeve engageable with the grooved portion of the brackets for releasably connecting the sleeve therewith, a flexible member adapted to be extended between the cap sleeves and through the bores thereof, and a screw mounted in the lower portion of each cap sleeve and disposed to engage the flexible member extending through the bore thereof for releasably securing the said member in the bore.

NATHAN HAMMER. 

